Nautica in the Douro

The Douro waterway, whose extension is 210 km, is open to pleasure boats of all types, except sailboats with more than 7.20 meters of mast. Along the navigation channel, which is duly marked with signaling buoys, there are about 60 river piers. In addition, the river Douro is a great place to practice nautical sports.

The Douro River is the ideal place for the practice of recreational navigation and various nautical sports activities, such as motor boating, rowing and sailing, being the scene of competitions of these same modalities.

The waterway of the Douro is 60 meters wide, in an alluvial bed, or 40 meters, on a rocky bed. The canal is bordered by red buoys on the right bank and green on the left bank. Motorized vessels may not sail outside this limit.

Any pleasure craft sailing on the Douro River must have a Regulation of the Douro Waterway and VHF maritime mobile service communications, with permanent listening on the emergency channel (16) and the common port call (12).

Some areas of the course are subject to tides, and may cause floods during rainy seasons, especially in the Ribeira do Porto area and on the Régua quay. In order to avoid any inconvenience, before starting your trip you should always consult the information provided by official means, such as the IPTM - Port and Maritime Transport Institute (North and Douro Delegation), the Port Authority of the Douro Port, the Delegation Marítima da Régua and the Maritime Police of the Douro.